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13 February 2013

The "Sexy Lie" about objectification of Women

#Objectification #Empowerment

Back to the body-talk. Here we have Caroline Heldman talking about the false friendship between sexual objectification and empowerment. This comes from the very innocent (and true!) idea that embracing previously imposed norms can be empowering, that, if done for authentic and personal reasons, sparkles, sprinkles and monogamy can be radical lifestyles choices (the last one, as suggested by Tristan Taormino).

Nevertheless, it has become very twisted in order to sell us back both submission and a gazillion of consumer goods we don't need. Caroline is talking about the crudest form of all: treating the female body as a marketing tool and/or a merchandise. And she offers how to get all those things out of your head: stop consuming brain-washers! stop being your own and other women's body police! and invest that freed energy in something cool!

An additional reading: The Myth of Empowerment very clearly answering if every choice women make is to be treated like an empowering (therefore inherently feminist) choice by Clementine Ford.